Valve-actuating mechanism.



No. 886,663. PATENTED MAY 5, 1906.

w. 1). SWEETMAN.

I VALVE AGTUATING MECHANISM.-

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 11, 1907.

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No. 886,668. PATENTED MAY 5, 1908.

W. D. SWEETMAN. VALVE AGTUATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 11, 1907.

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WILLIAM D. SWEETMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN WILLIAMSON,OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VALVE-ACTUATING MECHANISM.

Application filed November To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. SWEET- MAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ValveActuating Mechanism, of which the following is a speci fication.

This valve mechanism of the present invention is intended moreparticularly for use in connection with a gas generator of the typeadapted to generate water gas. In generators of this type, the steamwhich is intended to be decomposed into gas is alternately admitted tothe generator above and below the incandescent fuel body in order tomake what are known as up and down runs. When the steam is admittedabove the fuel and passes down therethrough and is decomposed on thedown passage, the gas is formed on what is generally called the downrun, and in like manner, when the path of travel is reversed and thesteam admitted below the fuel surface and travels upwardly therethroughit performs what is termed the up run. In these circumstances the flowof water gas from the fuel surface must be regulated in a suitablemanner to cooperate with the inflow of the steam, depending upon whetherthe up or down run is being performed at a specified time. Thisregulation of the steam and gas necessitates the employment of twovalves,a steam valve and agas regulating valveand the object of thep'resent invention is to provide suitable automatic means for actuatingsaid valves in ac cord with one another, so that a single manipulationof the valve actuating machinery will regulate the steam and gas valvesin proper relation with one another to accommo date the intended flow ofgas.

Another object of the present invention is to so construct and regulatethe mechanism actuating the steam valve that it will be held under aheavy spring tension when turned to either position, which is highlydesirable in that the steam is admitted under considerable pressure andit is necessary that a tight seal be provided in order to direct thesteam in the proper channel.

Although the invention is designed with special reference to therequirements of gas generators, nevertheless it might be em ployed inother connections inwhich similar results are intended to be performed.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1908.

11, 1907. Serial No. 401,680.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combinationof parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation of the gas and steamvalves, showing the actuating mechanismin edge elevation; Fig.

enlarged view, showing in section the interior of the steam and gasvalves.

The gas valve, as shown, comprises a casing 4, of the general formationof a four-way coupling and having a main valve chamber 5, provided witha lower mouth 6, an upper mouth 7, and an intermediate mouth 8, as shownin Fig. 3. The lower mouth 6 is intended to serve as an inlet for theflow of gas generated on the down run of steam, and the lateral mouth 8likewise serves as an inlet forthe flow of gas generated on the up runof steam. The upper mouth 7 serves as a discharge for all of the gaspassing through the valve, which gas is thereafter led to thecarbureting portion of the generator to receive its charge ofilluminating oil. At the lower corner of the casing is a protuberantchamber 9, located between the mouths 6 and 8, through which chamber isentered a shaft 10, upon which is rigidly mounted a valve operating arm11. The arm has, on its end, a double faced valve 12, having a conveXlyrounded upper seating face 13 and a flat disk shaped seating face 14adapted to cooperate with valve seats 15 and 16, respectively, which areformed in connection with the mouths 8 and 6, respectively. The abovespecific construction of the gas valve is not claimed as new, andadditional description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

Secured to the casing of the gas valve, near the upper inner frontcorner thereof, and immediately above the intermediate mouth 8, islocated a steam valve 17, which comprises a main valve chamber 18,having upper, intermediate, and lower mouths 19, 20, and 21, on threesides thereof, which mouths correspond very nearly to the mouths of thegas valve previously described. The steam valve is provided with atransversely extending shaft 22, carrying an arm 23, which, like the arm11, is provided With double valve faces 24, which are adapted to engagewith valve seats 25, formed in connection with the mouths 20 and 21. Thearm 23, however, is so mounted on the shaft 22 that the valves carriedby the arm will occupy positions at right angles to 2 a side elevationof the same; and Fig. 3 an one another. As shown in Fig. 3 the valves 1the top of the fuel surface. The steam thus are set for an up run, thesteam passing through the lower mouth 21, thence to the interior of thegenerator, and being there decomposed, after which the gas passes fromthe generator through the open mouth 8 of the gas valve, and thencethrough the discharge mouth 7. The mouths of the steam andgas valvesconnect with suitable dpipes and passages, which lead to the intendeportions of the generator structure, so that the flow of steam and gascan be regulated, by suitable movements of the valves, to perform the upand down runs.

In order to prevent any mal-adjustment of the valves, the regulatingmechanism of the present invention has been designed. The shaft 10,which may be termed the gas regulating shaft, has mounted thereon a gearwheel 26, of large diameter, which is provided, on one side, with acounter-weight 27,

1 adapted to counterbalance the weight of the double faced gas valve 12The wheel 26 meshes with a pinion 28 on a stub shaft 29, upon the end ofwhich is located a hand wheel 30. The shaft 22, which may be termed thesteam regulating shaft, is provided on its end with. an arm 31, whichpreferably extends at an angle of 45 with respect to the arm 23 uponwhich the valves are carried. The arm 31 is pivoted, at its outer end,to a collar 32, which is slidably mounted upon a rod 33, which rod ispivoted to the counter-weight 27 on the gear wheel 26, which actuatesthe gas valve. The collar 32 is interposed between upper and lower coilsprings 34 and. 35, which encircle the rod 33 and are held in positionby means of upper and lower nuts 36 and 37, respectively; The rod isregulated to have a greater degree of movement, during the swing of thewheel 26, than the movement of the arm 31, so that, after the steamvalve has been seated either by an up or down movement of the rod, thearm 31 will be subjected to a heavy spring tension by the continuedmovement of the rod 33, which in this manner serves to hold the steamvalve seated under a spring tension.

The steam pipe has entered into the mouth 19 a pipe 38, which leads tothe boiler or other source of steam supply. The mouth 20 has enteredthereinto a pipe 39, which supplies steam for the down run, and themouth 21 has entered thereinto a similar pipe 40, which supplies steamfor the up run.

In use, when it is desired to create a down run of gas, the operatingmechanism is thrown into the position shown in Fig. 2, which is theopposite position from that shown in Fig. 3. With the parts in theposition indicated in Fig. 2, the steam valve will be in its loweredposition, admitting steam through the mouth 20 and pipe 39 to admittedwill travel down through the in-' candescent fuel and will therein bedecomthe generator up through the mouth 6 of the gas valve and out ofthe mouth 7, whence it will be conveyed to another portion of thegenerator for carburation and additional treatment. WVhen it is desiredto reverse the run, the hand wheel will be turned and power transmittedto the gear wheel 26, which acts directly on the shaft 10, and suchmovement will lower the gas valve 12 into the position shown in Fig. 3,and will simultaneously raise the steam valve into the position shown inFig. 3, which simultaneous movement of the valves automatically reversesthe flow of gas, so that mal-adjustment due to carelessness on the partof the operator will be avoided. The springs upon the rod 33 can beadjusted to proper tension by means of the nuts 36 and 37, and serve tohold the steam valve tightly seated in whatever position it may beadjusted.

What I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. In a valve actuating mechanism, the combination of two cooperatingvalve casings, each of the valve casings being provided with twovalve-controlled passages, a valve member for each of the valve casings,adapted to be swung to different positions to close either one of thepassages, a shaft for each of the valve members, a crank member on oneof the shafts, an arm on the other shaft, a rod pivoted to the crankmember, a slidable connection between the rod and the arm, and springson opposite sides of such slidable con nection, the movement of the rodin either direction being sufficient to subject the arm to springtension, substantially as described.

2. In a valve actuating mechanism, the combination of two cooperatingvalve casings, each of the valve casings being provided with twovalve-controlled passages, a valve arm for each of the valve casings,and carrying thereon a double faced valve member adapted to controleither one of the passages, a shaft for each of the valve arms, a crankmember on one of the shafts, an arm on the other shaft, a rod pivoted tothe crank member, a slidable connection between the rod and the arm, andsprings on opposite sides of such slidable connection, the movement ofthe rod in either direction being sufficient to subject the arm tospring tension, substantially as described.

3. In a valve actuating mechanism, the combination of two cooperatingvalve casings, each of the valve casings being provided with twovalve-controlled passages, a valve arm for each of the valve casings,and carrying thereon a double faced valve member adapted to controleither one of the passages, a shaft for each of the valve arms, a gearwheel'on one of the shafts, a pinion meshing with said gear wheel, ahand wheel for actuating said pinion, an arm on the other shaft, a rodpivoted to the crank member, a slidable connection between the rod andthe arm, and springs on opposite sides of such slidable connection, themovement of the rod in either direction being sufficient to subject thearm to spring tension, substantially as described.

4. In a valve actuating mechanism, the combination of two cooperatingvalves, a revoluble shaft adapted to actuate one of the valves, aswinging arm adapted to actuate the other valve, a crank member on theshaft, a rod pivoted to said crank member, a slidable connection betweenthe arm and the rod, and springs encircling the rod on opposite sides ofthe slidable connection, the extreme movement of the rod being greaterthan the extreme movement of the arm, substantially as described.

5. In a valve actuating mechanism, the combination of two cooperatingvalves, a revoluble shaft adapted to actuate one of the valves, amovable member adapted to actuate the other valve, a crank member on theshaft, a rod pivoted to said crank member, a slidable connection betweenthe movable member and the rod, and springs encircling the rod onopposite sides of the slidable connection, the extreme movement of therod being greater than the extreme movement of the movable valveactuating member,'substantially as described.

6. In a valve actuating mechanism, the combination of a gas valve casinghaving a discharge mouth and having two inlet mouths at right angles toone another, a shaft journaled intermediate the inlet mouths, an armmounted on the shaft, a valve member carried bysaid arm and adapted toclose either of the inlet mouths, a steam valve casing, located adjacentto the gas valve casing and provided with a steam inlet mouth, and steamoutlet mouths at right angles to one another, a steam valve shaftjournaled intermediate the outlet mouths, an arm mounted on the shaft, asteam valve carried by said arm and adapted to regulate either of theoutlet mouths, a valve actuating arm on the steam valve shaft, a crankmember on the gas valve shaft, a rod pivoted to said crank 1' WVILLIAMD. SWEETMAN.

Witnesses:

S. H. MOORE, W. J. GORMAN.

